The English Football League kicked off with its first round of matches on September 8 1888. Conceived 6 months earlier in Anderton’s hotel, Fleet Street, London twelve teams from the midlands and north began their quest to be crowned the nation’s first champions.
It is second only to the UEFA Champions League, and teams which qualify for the Champions League do not traditionally play in the Euro Cup. The Cup evolved out of a number of other international football league competitions, and its history can be traced back over hundreds of years of European football.
bet football The European football community became more and more unhappy with these competitions, as earning a championship in one did not necessarily mean a team was the most successful club in Europe. This mounting discontent led eventually to Gabriel Hanot’s call for a more comprehensive tournament, which was published in the magazine L’Equipe in the early 1950’s.
The exclusion of English clubs from Cup play opened up the field to teams from other European countries, and the late 80’s saw winners from a range of countries. Starting in 1992, Italian clubs dominated the Cup for nearly a decade. The Italian clubs faired very poorly in the late 90’s, but have returned to the top in several recent championships.
Half of the money is divided equally among the clubs, with one quarter being divided according to league finish, and one quarter going to clubs to offset facilities costs for broadcast games.
